Resident Evil: Blood Ties
by Sporty-Girl
Summary: After the Antartic disaster Umbrella has started closing down facilities, but when higher ups in the corporation start to disappear six people go looking for them. Will they be able to survive the new Nemises IIIs? FINISHED! EPILOGUE UP!
1. The Inauguration

Resident Evil: Blood Ties  
  
Chapter 1: The Inauguration  
  
Pierre Dupree looked around the dimly lit room in the Umbrella facility. The room was solid white with a single light that hung down from the dark ceiling by a chain, giving it a dungeon-like look. The lamp didn't do much good only illuminating a ten-foot radius around the table at which he sat with five other people. They had all been holed up in this room figuring out why they were all there. They all shared one common thing though; the need to find a family member or friend that had disappeared after Umbrella had gone under.  
  
Pierre sat at the very end of the table, two seats away from the closest person. When he was five, he was abandoned by his parents and grew up on the streets of Paris. Which made him absolutely hate the idea of depending on other people for anything. He was then taken in and raised by Umbrella and became a "fix up" guy, which simply meant that whenever someone found out a little too much about what Umbrella was doing he was to "fix" the problem. Now he was 23 years old, 6'2, 190 lbs. He had light blue eyes, dirty blonde hair, and a small scar that ran the bridge of his nose from a fight. After Umbrella had laid him off after they started going under he had been on a tirade trying to kill every key player that had anything to do with Umbrella, which finally led him here to this hellhole, which had been a kind of headquarters for research facilities.  
  
To his left was Lain Meiers. Lain was a young girl about seventeen, she had pale white skin, short blonde hair, and green eyes. She wore a green jacket with a white tank top under it and dark blue jeans. She was 5'2, about 110 lbs., with a small build. She seemed to be an ordinary girl who was very quiet and sullen. She seemed to daydream a lot and didn't have a lot of confidence in herself. Her mother had died from illness when she was young, so her father who worked for Umbrella raised her. Both her and her father had then lived in a small apartment. Her father had recently disappeared motivating her to go looking for him in one of the most well known Umbrella facilities, the facility that was about 10 miles from where Raccoon City used to be.  
  
To Pierre's right was Tom Burgess. Tom was 20 years old, 6'0, and 185 lbs. He had blue eyes, black hair, and a thin mustache and a goatee. He was paranoid about government and pretty rebellious. His mother had been a homemaker that was kidnapped by Umbrella for experimentation. His father was a high-ranking member of the American Knights, a top-secret patriot organization, but was killed in an S.T.A.R.S. raid. A Financial CEO, a farmer, and a butcher passed around Tom. He was taught to be a gentleman and a farmer. He had also been trained in a Green Beret program, but probably the most interesting fact Pierre found out about him was that he was wanted for many attacks on government and Umbrella facilities. His intense hate for Umbrella after his mother's death lead him to this Umbrella facility.  
  
Beside Tom sat a 21 year old, 5'10, 165 lbs. man. He went by the name of Jon Noto. Jon had brown eyes and dark black hair. He seemed to be cowardly since in situations of extreme pressure he would crack. After graduating college and getting a degree in engineering, he had tried to get a job in a bomb squad but failed due to the fact that he couldn't stand being under pressure. Eventually his best friend, Steven Robinson, offered him a job at a nearby umbrella company that was offering jobs to those with engineering skills. He eventually took up the job, but after 3 months he was laid off. However, Steven was kept on and soon disappeared like many other researchers. Jon vowed to find Steven or at least what happened to him. Jon said proficiently that he had skills in engineering, some medical skills, and knows how to fly a helicopter he also was quite handy with a gun.  
  
In the chair to the right of the head of the table was a Hispanic looking guy. He was 29 years old, 6 foot, and 178 lbs. He had dark tanned skin, light brown eyes, and dark hair. He was loyal and determined, and refused to admit himself wrong in any circumstance and had a tendency to flaunt himself in his abilities. He had been in the military since the age of 18 and had been expertly trained as a Navy Seals more than half that time. Having one of his colleagues, Emma Magnus, in Raccoon city during the virus outbreak on a secluded mission, Acosta had been chosen from one of his friend's fellow reconnaissance squad in order to look for her, and to help bring down Umbrella. He soon found himself wondering around in this facility.  
  
Heading the table off was, Matthew Ryan. Matthew had already elected himself as "leader" which didn't set well with Pierre at all. He was 28 years old, 6 foot, and 195 lbs. He had had 4 years of college, majoring in political science with a minor in international law. Matthew finished in the top 6% of his class, and was approached by the military upon graduation because of his high scores on the ASVAB test system. After completing basic training, Ryan was selected for training at West Point. He graduated with honors, and proceeded to Army Ranger School, earning his status as a Ranger in his first attempt. Feeling that he wasn't doing enough to serve his country, Ryan began to collect rumors about a special branch of the CIA created after the war in Afghanistan. The purpose of the unit was to train special field operatives in the arts of assassination, and single operative warfare. This was in order to prevent another disaster like the one that occurred during a prison uprising where a CIA agent was killed. The new program would eventually lead to a new generation of battle-ready field agents, which appealed greatly to Ryan. He finally made enough connections in the brass to agitate for a transfer to the unit, and was accepted. After training, Ryan was assigned to several high profile incidents in the Middle East, most of that remain classified to this day. Ryan has a personal stake in the hunt for Umbrella; his fiancée was a researcher for the company, and one of the many who disappeared after their apparent destruction, as well as being personal acquaintances with most of the former S.T.A.R.S. agents, after his liaison operation with them. He seemed to be extremely loyal, with a fierce sense of right and wrong.  
  
"Well, now that we know about each other what do you say we get out of here," Pierre said with a cold undertone to it. "Yeah, that's a good idea, the longer we stay here the higher the chance we have of not finding anybody," Matthew said as a matter-of-factly. They all raised from their seats, except for Lain. Tom stopped in his tracks on his way to the door, and quickly walked back to the table to the chair where Lain sat. "Hey, are you alright," Tom said with genuine concern. Lain snapped around, "Yeah, sorry, I must have zoned out there for a second," she said a little more than embarrassed. "Don't worry, I won't bite your head off for that alone," he said trying to get her to relax a little. "Hey you two, stop fooling around and hurry up," Pierre said a little irritated by the fact that Tom might not be able to keep his mind on his business because of this girl. He would have to watch him carefully along with all the others he thought to himself as they stepped through the door into the cold corridor.  
  
Authors Note: I promise there will be a lot of blood and gore in the next chapter, but I just wanted to introduce the characters. So, try not to take it to personally. Tell me what you think by giving me a review. 


	2. The Three Doors of Fate

Chapter 2: The Three Doors of Fate  
  
As they stepped into the cool hallway Jon Noto could feel the difference in temperature; it got noticeable colder. Jon who had tried to prepare for anything carried his handgun along with the others. Matthew Ryan led the way, his Desert Eagle focused right in front of him as if watching for some unseen foe. Matt was calm and confident. He didn't know why Matt trusted everyone. He had known them for a little over two hours and all ready he trusted them. Jon unconsciously shook his head, trying to get the questions out of his head.  
  
As the neared the end of the hallway they noticed that there were three doors at the end of the hallway; each with a different color, and each with a different insignia on it. "Okay, let's split up into three groups," Matt said as they reached the end of the hallway. "Lain, you and Tom take the blue door, Pierre and Jon take the white door, and me and Pedro will take the black door," Matthew said valiantly. Jon, hearing something pop, looked to his left and found that Pierre's knuckles where turning pale white from the grip at which he was holding his Berretta as Matthew spoke. My luck I'd get paired with the psycho killer thought Jon as he tried to pay attention to what Matt was saying. We'll meet back here in ten minutes whether we find anything or not, understand?" Matthew said closing any argument that might have come. They all nodded their heads preparing their selves for the worst.  
  
Tom and Lain slid silently through the navy blue door with a wave insignia on it. Before Tom could take a second step into the room, the smell of decay swept over him like a tidal wave. "What the Hell is that smell?" Tom whispered. "I smelled this once, when I was at a slaughter house, it's the smell of rot and decay," Lain said to no one in particular. After a couple of seconds Tom regained his composure and took a look around the room. If you could call it a room, it was more of an aquarium than anything. In fact, that's all it was, just one big aquarium. Huge glass tanks filled with water were scattered around the room. They were the size of Olympic size swimming pools, but they were easily 20 feet high. They also looked as if they had been unattended for a while, because the water was a murky green color. "What were they doing down here?" Tom said as he tapped on the glass. Tom jumped as Lain placed her hand on his shoulder. "I don't think it's such a good idea to tap on the glass, haven't you been to a zoo?" she said jokingly.  
  
As Tom returned to checking the room Lain heard a faint noise coming from the tank that Tom had just turned from. The noise was a popping noise.like something breaking.like GLASS BREAKING! She turned just in time to see the glass shatter and all the water from the tank cascade onto the floor. Lain hurriedly tried to do the math in her head of how deep the water would get on the floor from a tank that big. Let's see.if that many does that then.this much will..OH SHIT we are getting ready to be at least waist deep in this! Her mind screamed out. She shot a glance back at Tom, but he already knew what she was going to say. "If I was a ladder where would I be.?" Lain thought to herself. "Come on, there's a ladder in the back," Tom screamed from the back of the Aquarium. She hurriedly sloshed through the water that was already waist deep, and the tank was not even a half of the way drained. "LAIN, BEHIND YOU!" yelled Tom from atop the ladder.  
  
Then she heard it, something right behind her that was huge and cutting through the water at twice her speed. She instinctively looked behind her and what she saw made her wish she hadn't.  
  
Author's note: I know it's pretty short; I just wanted to kind of get it out there since I won't be writing a lot over the weekend. Hope you liked it. 


	3. Death Valley

Chapter 3: Death Valley  
  
Lain Meiers looked behind her and saw what could only be described as a giant 24 foot alligator. Even as she said it she couldn't bring her mind to accept it. Parts of its flesh had rotted and fallen off, because there were patches where all you could see raw decaying meat. The smell also had intensified as the thing started swimming for her. Lain knew that she didn't have enough firepower even with Tom Burgess's help. She turned around without waiting another second dove into the water. She didn't dare risk another look back as she swam as hard as she could toward the ladder. Please, just let me make it the next couple of feet to the ladder, she said willing herself to go faster. Lain could actually feel the rough skin of the alligator on the heels of her feet when something yanked Lain straight out of the water.  
  
Tom, knowing that they both didn't have enough firepower to kill whatever the hell that thing was, had rushed down the ladder to be ready to get Lain out of the water as soon as she got close enough. As she neared the ladder, the alligator was so close to her that Tom could actually imagine the gator biting at the soles her feet. He pulled her up in what must have been the nick of time, because the gator had been so close that when she "disappeared" from his sights it had not been able to stop in time and hit another tank, shattering the glass. "Shit, with that glass broken it is going to feel up this room pretty quick. We have to find a way out of here," Tom said not wanting to think about what had just happened. Lain looked up to see that the ladder led to a catwalk above all of the tanks. "Unless you want to go for a refreshing swim it looks like the only way is up onto that catwalk," Lain said trying to lighten the mood a little.  
  
Pierre Dupree made sure that he got ahead of Jon Noto to get through the white door before he did. Pierre noticed that the white door was made out of what looked like white tile that seemed to have an hour glass engraved on it, or maybe that was just his imagination. He quickly drew a line through the imagination idea, since he had never been known to have one.  
  
As he stepped through the door an intense heat along with a stench that would have raised the dead washed over him. The room was not just a room; it was more of a desert, complete with dunes. Jon, as if unafraid of him stepped right in front of Pierre. "You might want to get your ass back here until we make a scan of the room, Jon," Pierre said letting his agitation and anger purposely show in his words. "We have ten minutes, not ten hours, Pierre," Jon said seemingly not noticing that Pierre had stopped focusing his berretta on the room and moved it to face Jon.  
  
"Come on, maybe there's a door in the back," Jon said as he started walking across the hot sand. Pierre looked up to see that the intense heat was being generated by hundreds of lights lined up all the way across the ceiling of the room. Come on, it's not worth it Pierre, just suck it up now and get the job done, Pierre breathed to himself as he reluctantly followed Jon's lead.  
  
The lights above Jon felt twice as hot as the sun on any day, but not even the lights could compare to the heat at which Pierre's eyes glaring into his back was giving him. The room was easily the size of a football stadium, both in height and length. Pierre slowly jogged up to meet Jon's pace and to get ahead of him. The last thing Pierre wanted was to be stuck in this room because Jon locked him out. As they stepped into the middle of the make shift desert something black against the hot sand caught Jon's eye. "Hey, what's that?" Jon notified Pierre as he walked across to where it was. "Umbrella is going to have to do a little better than this," Pierre said as he crushed the small black scorpion under his boot. As if on cue, the ground started to shake and split. 


	4. A Life for a Life

Chapter 4: A Life for a Life  
  
As the ground shook rigorously, the movement of the sand gradually began to pull Pierre and Jon into a forming pit between a series of dunes. Both men ran up the sand, away from what was pulling them in, but to no avail. The rapid hiss of the quaking sand seemed to signal emanate death to the young men. They quickly realized that the force that was pulling them down was compellingly stronger than either man.  
  
As beads of sweat on Jon's forehead began to freely streak down the side of his face, he panicked. "What's going on?! We're going to get sucked in!"  
  
The hot sand sprayed everywhere in a stormed frenzy making the scenario even harder for the both men to escape. Suddenly, as Pierre and Jon struggled to run up the dunes with the last bit of their strength, the shaking ceased. On the ground, Pierre and Jon paused, stricken with terror. They waited to see if the shaking had completely stopped. To their reassurance, they straightened themselves, dusting the sand from their face and clothing, breathlessly. Pierre looked at his surroundings, hypnotized by the continuous heat wave produced by the heating lights above. The faint mirage of an exit made running toward it sound tempting just as long as it got him away from the intense heat. Besides that, Pierre saw nothing but more sand.  
  
"Well, whatever it was, it has stopped." Pierre said as if nothing had ever happened, his calm and confident attitude returning.  
  
"Jeez, aren't deserts supposed to have back doors to them?" Jon asked as he wiped his damp forehead with the back of his hand.  
  
Pierre turned to him, his eyes glaring through Jon. He shook his head. "Come on, let's find a way out of this hell hole."  
  
With the slightest bit of determination, they began to retreat toward the top of a small dune.  
  
"I'll be damned if I ever let my kid play in a sandbox." Jon muttered.  
  
"You'll be damned if you ever have one at all." Pierre replied. "Stop worrying about things like that."  
  
"Why should I? You didn't seem too worried about what would happen after you stepped on that scorpion."  
  
Pierre opened his mouth to resent that remark but instead said nothing. He frowned, "Shut up."  
  
They reached the top of the dune, overlooking most of the "desert." It was quite a large area that was completely covered with sand. Jon believed, and seeing how well built it was, it must have been some kind of habitat for animals. The intensity of the heat that radiated off the lights seemed unnecessary to Jon, they really didn't play along with a desert environment. It was better said that this place was an oven rather than anything else. Surely the desert wasn't this hot but for some reason it was.  
  
"You think it rains in here?" Pierre asked as he squinted his eyes in order to glance up at the dark red heating lights. He noticed a scattered amount of water dispensers built beside the lamps.  
  
"Wouldn't be complete without occasional rain."  
  
"You seem sure of that."  
  
"I'm sure of most things."  
  
Pierre and Jon were officially exhausted despite the fact that they had only been in the facility for two hours. They stayed amid sand, the heat wave adding to their confusion, still catching their breath.  
  
"I always knew Umbrella was full of it." Pierre observed after a few moments. "Come on, let's go."  
  
The two men began their descent down the dune in utter silence. The shaking was a fluke; Pierre thought defiantly, it'd take more than a mere earthquake to terrify him. It wasn't until long after that Jon regained his composure and was no longer afraid of the rumbling that had taken place before.  
  
Pierre walked steadily, his head up high as if he feared nothing in the world. Jon, however, was uneasy. No sooner did both men began to walk, Jon suddenly paused.  
  
Pierre turned to him. "What's the mat-"?  
  
Jon raised his hand in the air to interrupt. He absently stared at the ground. "Shh.do you hear that?"  
  
Pierre didn't. "What is it?"  
  
"Listen," whispered Jon.  
  
Pierre leaned closer to the sand, but heard nothing more but the buzz of radiation and the faint hiss of sand, but as he concentrated more Pierre could almost make out the slight sound of.  
  
"Scratching. I hear something scratching against the sand. It sounds distant though."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
Pierre furrowed his eyebrows. "Don't tell me you're afraid."  
  
"I'm not." Jon lied. In fact, he was still terrified but failed to admit it.  
  
Pierre stared at him in disbelief. "Liar." He smirked.  
  
Pierre coolly walked passed Jon back to where they had started their descent a moment ago. Pierre wanted to see what was making that noise, and to prove to Jon that it was nearly his imagination and cowardice. He retreated his steps and paused atop of the dune once more. Pierre scanned the area, and just as he had thought, there was nothing there.  
  
"What do you see?" Jon called out.  
  
"There's nothing. It's just your imagina-"  
  
Pierre caught a glimpse at something moving against the sand. It was black from what he could make out of it. He took a few steps closer. The thing appeared to be a claw making its way out of the ground. It scratched hastily. As soon as it dug a small circle, it went underground. Pierre could hear Jon calling in the distance but he paid no attention to him. He was too busy wondering what the hell that thing was.  
  
Pierre's unawareness of what was hidden underground became an immediate alert when suddenly another shaking began. This time something was bound to erupt from the ground. Pierre held his stance and didn't dare to move.  
  
Before he knew it, the head of an enormous creature protruded from under the sand. It screeched loudly, wriggling itself out to the light like a snake. Closely resembling an oversized scorpion, it advanced toward Pierre with a menacing crawl as its front claws snapped left and right.  
  
The scorpion-like monster was approximately seven feet in height, including its tail, from what Pierre judged, and had fangs sharp enough to split a strand of hair. It was solid black and a slimy substance covered its body like an oil; causing the scorpion's armor-like body to glisten in the light. Its glowing eyes glared at Pierre, as it fought wildly to free itself from its sand prison. Its wild movements seeming almost like a dance.  
  
"Pierre!"  
  
It sounded like an illusionary command from Jon, but Pierre had no will to respond because of the danger of making a bad move in the presence of the creature. He never expected something like this monster in real life; not even if a chemical plant had documents for producing one, but only in his fictional world did he ever expect something of this creation's sort to appear before his eyes. It still hadn't occurred to him that his life was at stake, as he stood there admiring the creature.  
  
The scorpion screeched again in deafening anguish, this time only a few feet from where Pierre stood. The rancid stink of death washed over him as he tried to think of an act of evasion. Inside his mind Pierre tried to convince himself that the feeling he was getting wasn't panic. He turned on his heel to run, right before the scorpion snapped its fangs for the first flesh-ripping bite, and began to run for his life.  
  
"Start running you bastard, don't just stand there!" Pierre screamed.  
  
Jon stared at him with sudden question, oblivious to the fact that Pierre was being pursued. As soon as he saw the two claws and fangs of the huge scorpion from far away, Jon, too, froze momentarily, not from admiration as Pierre had but from fear. He began to run; unaware that he was leaving Pierre in the dust.  
  
The scorpion was on Pierre's tail closer than he expected it to be. It pounced on him, knocking him down face first into the sand and pinned him onto the ground with its left and right front legs. Its mouth oozed with a strange acidic liquid. The creature was heavy enough to break one of Pierre's ribs and he wished that it were possible for one of them to puncture his heart instantly instead of dying in this position. But he knew he had to make an effort. What kind of man would that show the others?  
  
"Jon! I could use a hand here!"  
  
Jon heard the faint cry and instantly stopped dashing across the sand to turn back. He saw the whole scenario; Pierre was struggling against the monster's hold and, if Jon stalled anymore, it may just kill Pierre right on the spot. If he ran all the way over there it might chase after him too and put him in greater danger. Suddenly Jon remembered his gun. A jolt of a new idea sparked him as he soon began running back once again. He stopped at mid distance from himself and the monster, crouched down, and aimed and shot three successive bullets from the gun.  
  
One bullet pierced the scorpion's head. It released Pierre from under itself and scurried backwards a few steps from confusion. With no tendency to stop whatsoever, Pierre got up and ran as fast as he could. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bullet had stunned the scorpion for the time being.  
  
"Come on, come on, come on!" yelled Jon.  
  
Both men ran side by side as they approached the "end" of the desert room, a chain linked fence opening protected a small room indented within a stoned wall. Inside the small space, several devices could be seen including a computer that seemed to be turned on. There was also a door with an exit sign above it. They were relieved for a moment until both men realized that their pace had drastically reduced from a fast run to a slow and sluggish jog.  
  
"What the hell?" Jon said as he gradually stopped.  
  
Pierre glanced at his boots which where lower than lace deep in thick, muddy sand.  
  
"Holy shit, it's quicksand!"  
  
"Perfect." Pierre gritted his teeth in frustration.  
  
"It looks like the scorpion baby's momma doesn't quit," Jon said as he pointed toward the mother scorpion that was now charging at them full speed.  
  
They struggled against the thickness of the sand to try and reach the ledge of the room, raising their legs higher than average with each step to walk as if they strode across a floor of slushy concrete. Before they knew it, the scorpion entered the quicksand area right behind Pierre and Jon.  
  
"Come on, get up the goddamn ledge!" Insisted Pierre hastily.  
  
Pierre had already reached the ledge, as opposed to Jon who was still struggling to keep his balance in the quicksand at shin deep.  
  
"It would probably be a good idea for you to hurry up a little," Pierre said as he pulled his Berretta out of his waist band.  
  
"Jesus, don't you think I know that?" Jon protested as he fought to make his way over to Pierre.  
  
Pierre pulled his gun level with Jon's head. Jon looked up and immediately shut his eyes as tight as he could as he saw Pierre pull the trigger.  
  
"Keep your ass moving," Pierre barked to Jon.  
  
Jon looked up and found that Pierre had not shot him, but instead had gone right over his right shoulder to land the shot into the creature's head.  
  
"Nice going." Jon said as he reached for Pierre's hand. He held on to Pierre as much as he could, using every muscle in his arm not to let go. Pierre pulled Jon toward the ledge, the giant scorpion right behind Jon every moment moving in for a strike with its tail. Jon could feel the hot breath of the creature behind him and awaited for it to finally bite his legs off until finally Pierre dragged him into the device room and shut the chain linked door. He was covered with sand yet still alive  
  
"My life for yours, not an even trade in my view, but now were even. Next time you won't be so lucky," Pierre hissed as they entered the room.  
  
Just then the scorpion hit the door with an extraordinary amount of force.  
  
"It doesn't give up." Jon said as he got up from the floor. He noticed  
  
the Umbrella logo on the computer's screensaver. He wiped his hand on a clean spot of his shirt and touched the monitor.  
  
WELCOME TO THE DRYLAND HABITAT FOR ARACHNID X PROTOCOL-0003  
  
PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD: ___________  
  
"Damn. We need a password for this. Any suggestions?" Pierre asked.  
  
"I don't think I'm gonna come up with the right six digit answer, Pierre."  
  
Pierre grunted. He searched through the other machines around the computer and papers on a nearby table. He found various documents concerning the Arachnid creature, but paid no attention to it for now.  
  
"Hey, what's this?" Jon asked as he grabbed a card from the table. It was white bearing Umbrella's logo on the front. On the backside it had a set of digits. It probably belonged to the worker in charge of the place.  
  
"Well, look at that. Today is our lucky day." Pierre grabbed the card and read the numbers on the back. He typed them on the screen.  
  
PASSWORD: *******  
  
ACCESS GRANTED  
  
WELCOME  
  
The screen displayed various options. Pierre wasn't sure which one was best.  
  
"You better hurry. Momma scorpion isn't too happy." Jon stated.  
  
Pierre figured that it would be easier to work if the temperature wasn't so high. He pressed WEATHER CONTROL. Suddenly several options appeared on screen. He searched for one that regulated heating. Pierre then pressed DAYTIME WEATHER. As if on cue, another set of squares appeared.  
  
SHUT OFF HEATING LIGHTS? Y/N  
  
He pressed yes.  
  
WARNING: TURNING OFF HEATING LIGHTS MAY RESULT IN HARMFUL DAMAGE TO EXOSKELETON OF ARACHNID X. IT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP TEMPERATURE AT HIGH. DO YOU WISH TO CONTINUE? Y/N  
  
Pierre clicked yes. That's my intention, he thought.  
  
Suddenly the heating lights turned off in rows. The room was left in complete darkness save for the illumination of the monitor. The scorpion backed away confused. Another set of squares appeared before Pierre.  
  
NIGHTTIME WEATHER  
  
DO YOU WISH TO ACTIVATE RAIN MODE? Y/N  
  
Again, Pierre pressed yes. The habitat changed its setting. Instead of the hot and blazing red heat that had radiated in the room when the two men came in, a dull blue light shone throughout the room. The water dispensers began to drain out water. The scorpion, being used to the intense heat began to scurry frenziedly around to avoid water contact.  
  
Jon laughed. "When it rains, it pours."  
  
The scorpion was stuck into the thick quicksand. It shrieked in agony for reasons unknown to both Pierre and Jon.  
  
"Come on. Let's leave this thing alone." Pierre insisted. They took a last look at the vulnerable giant scorpion and exited through the door Jon looked back once more and looked at the dying creature and wondered. Forgetting his thoughts, he shook his head and left. 


	5. Old Friends and New Enemies

Chapter 5: Old Friends and New Enemies  
  
As Matthew Ryan and Pedro Acosta stepped through the charcoal door; they could hear the soft click of the door closing behind them. Instinctively, they both made a quick sweep of the room with their gun. It took Pedro's eyes a couple of seconds to adjust to the extremely dimly lit hallway. Matt, unaccustomed to the darkness, put on his thermal vision goggles. The hallway was extremely narrow, barely big enough for Pedro and Matt to fit into going down it single filed.  
  
"This walking single filed reminds me of being in kindergarten again," Pedro said over his shoulder, trying to lighten the mood.  
  
"Yeah, I know, what would Umbrella need this small of a hallway for?" Matt said more to himself than Pedro.  
  
The cold resonance of their boots hitting the tile bounced off the walls and made an echoed vibration, muting any other sound in the area. Matt on the other hand would have sworn that he could here shots being fired in the distance. He wondered if Pedro had noticed but decided not to delay themselves by asking questions. The hallway went straight for about 100 or so yards and then suddenly jutted to the left. It was a dead end.  
  
"Hmm. What do you see Matt?" Acosta asked.  
  
Through swirls of different shades of warm and cool colors, Matt obviously saw Pedro in front of him scratching his head in vivid redness. Matt walked passed him, his hands feeling the wall's surface were he suddenly stopped at the far wall. There was a crack on the cool surface as his fingers ran along it vertically.  
  
"Is that an elevator?" Pedro said as he squinted to make anything out in the darkness. An old fashioned elevator was set into stone, making it appear as though it was a part of the wall. It would have gone completely over looked had Pedro not been trained to look for everything and anything. As if on cue, the elevator doors opened.  
  
"Well, down into the mouth of hell we go," Pedro said with a slight chuckle.  
  
Matthew warily stepped onto the rusted elevator cautious of the fact that the cable wire could snap at any minute. There were only two buttons that were set into the elevator: one with an arrow pointing up and one with an arrow pointing down.  
  
"Up or down, Pedro?"  
  
Since they couldn't go any further up, their only option was to go down.  
  
"This isn't the elevator of Willy Wonka's factory." Pedro remarked.  
  
Matthew could almost sense the elevator getting ready to fall with each inch it crawled downward. Matt couldn't help but look down into the dark pit that the elevator was descending in. Pedro had noticed Matt's silence.  
  
"You think the others are alright?"  
  
Pedro hesitated to respond. The thought of the other survivors never crossed his mind and he honestly didn't know whether they were still in one piece.  
  
"I'm sure they're fine." Pedro said. "You worried?"  
  
Matt rolled his eyes. "It's my job to worry."  
  
Finally, the elevator came to a shuddering halt. The elevator let off right into a flickering lit, pure white room. Floor-to-ceiling, test tubes were the 'decorative' centerpiece for the room. There were at least fifteen scattered through out the room. Everything looked like it had been especially taken care of for the most part. The computer devices and the table counters bore shininess as if it were polished for special presentation and the floor was waxed recently, totally spotless hadn't it been for a trail of bloody footprints leading to another room. The whole area looked well in place except that a stack of papers had been scattered onto to the floor beside a desk. The desk was spotless as well and held a small computer and a few personal items of its resident.  
  
"Someone must have been looking for something here." Matt observed as he took off his goggles.  
  
Pedro knelt down and glanced through the papers. "What's a nemesis? It seems to show up in all of these papers." Pedro asked as he sifted through the scattered papers.  
  
Matt kneeled down, and lifted the paper from Pedro's hand.  
  
NEMISIS PROGRAM III  
  
FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2001  
  
TEST SUBJECTS 013-019 ARRIVED TODAY. THEY INCLUDE TWO MALES AND FOUR FEMALES. IN EARLIER STUDIES IT WAS OBSERVED THAT THE MALE TEST SUBJECTS DIDN'T REACT QUITE AS WELL TO THE REANIMATION OF THEIR BODIES. UNLIKE THE OLD NEMISIS PROTOTYPES WERE ONLY ABLE TO FOCUS ON ONE OBJECTIVE, THESE NEW ONES SHOULD BE ABLE TO CARRY ON RATIONAL THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOR AND MUCH OF THEIR MEMORY WILL STAY INTACT. MAKING IT THE PERFECT KILLING MACHINE, ABLE TO COHERENTLY THINK, LISTEN, AND EVEN LEARN.  
  
SUNDAY, JUNE 17, 2001  
  
AFTER ADMINISTERING THE VIRUS TO ALL OF THE TEST SUBJECTS ON FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2001, AN UNEXPECTED SIDE EFFECT HAS OCCURRED. WHEN ADMINISTERING 127 ML OF DOPAMINE AND 177 CC OF THE T-VIRUS THE, CODE NAMED: NEMISIS, DIDN'T MUTATE, BUT RATHER KEPT THEIR SAME FORM..  
  
"Just when it got to the good part." Matt said. The page was burned from an attempt to cover the information up he guessed. "Keep searching these papers. The names of the victims are here somewhere."  
  
But Pedro didn't listen. He stared at the paper in Matt's hand. "Two males and four females." He repeated.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Matt, who have you lost that has made you so determined to bring down Umbrella?"  
  
Matt paused. "That doesn't matter anymore."  
  
Pedro scoffed. "Of course it doesn't, but I want to know."  
  
"What does it have to do with anything?"  
  
"Like you said, we're all here for one reason. Maybe these papers are the answer why."  
  
"You don't seriously think that those we look for were captured to be used as."  
  
Pedro nodded. "Test subjec-," He started, but was suddenly cut off.  
  
Just then, a siren blared on from somewhere in the back of the room which startled both men. The lights had shut off and a blinking red light soon took its place. Pedro and Matt simultaneously ran to the back of the room from where the siren was emitting. They arrived in time to see an airlock door begin close tightly. Suddenly, a hand hit the window of the door. It was a man, an expression of terror visibly painted on his face. He was banging furiously.  
  
"Just stay clam we will get you out of there, sir," Matt said as he struggled to find a way to unlock the door.  
  
The man inside the room, Matt determined, had been an Umbrella researcher since he wore a white lab coat and bottle coke glasses. Maybe he knew something that could help them find their friends and family, which is why Matt saw it as top priority to get this man free.  
  
There was a small keypad to the left of the door, meaning that they needed a code to free the man.  
  
"Did you come across any codes in the papers?" Matt said alerting Pedro from his gaze.  
  
"A what?"  
  
"A code, we have to have o." The increased panicking of the man in the room cut off Matt.  
  
The room had begun to fill with green smog, which was being emitted through propane tanks form the ceiling. The man began to panic even more.  
  
"Damn." Matt cursed.  
  
Come on; think harder, Pedro said to himself silently willing his brain to remember any codes.  
  
"Just start putting in anything you read in the paper," Pedro said as he shuffled through papers that were scattered among the desk to the side of the door. Despite his sudden forgetfulness, Pedro knew what it was. He had it on the tip of his tongue.  
  
"Put in NEMISIS," Pedro yelled trying to make himself heard over the siren.  
  
"You sure?! I think we only have one shot at this!"  
  
"Do it!"  
  
As Matt put it in, the siren came to a halt, leaving a ringing in his ears. Fans in the background of the room ventilated the poison gas and quickly regained its original state. Finally, the door swung open releasing the man from his short-term prison.  
  
"Thank you," the man panted, still trying to clear his lungs.  
  
"Who are you?" Pedro wasted no time with chitchat, not wanting to get too close to a suspected enemy.  
  
"I am Dr. Steve O'Neal, head engineer of the bio-weapons division, and in debt to you," he said regaining his composure almost immediately.  
  
"So, you are in charge, what are all of these experiments?" Matt said gesturing to the paper he had read earlier.  
  
"Yes I am in charge, and those experiments are classified," Steve said as if reading off of cue cards.  
  
"Well I think that you might want to start unclassifying them," Pedro said as he brought his gun to face Steve's head.  
  
"Hey, chill out Acosta."  
  
Dr. O'Neal coughed. "You need to put a leash on your pet." He suggested.  
  
"Hey man, fuck you." Pedro remarked.  
  
"Hey!" Matt yelled at Pedro, "What the hell did I say??"  
  
Acosta frowned as he lowered his gun.  
  
"What the hell are these experiments?" Asked again. "And I want answers now."  
  
"Very well." O'Neal said. "The Nemesis III's are a new brand of bio weapon, unlike the older prototypes, these can't be detected without a series of blood tests, and they have all of the strength and power of one of the older Nemesis prototypes which I am sure your friend Matthew Ryan here knows about. They can also blend into their environment and learn, but I wouldn't worry too much about the Nemesis IIIs there are too many other friends for you to play with," Steve said with a menacing tone.  
  
"How do you know who I am?" Matthew said flatly.  
  
"Oh, I think everyone here at Umbrella knows about your little "adventures" at the other locations. Didn't you lose a partner in the middle east?"  
  
Matt said nothing.  
  
O'Neal grinned as he continued. "Well don't be too sad. You might end up seeing him again."  
  
Matt grabbed O'Neal's shirt collar and pushed him against the wall with anger. "How the hell do you know this? Huh? Answer me!"  
  
O'Neal looked at Pedro even though attention should have been toward Matt's grip. "Look's like your friend needs a leash, too, Mr. Acosta."  
  
For some reason, Acosta was now disappointed. He folded is arms against his chest. "I guess he does."  
  
"I suggest you release me before you suffer from a stroke, Matthew Ryan."  
  
Matt hesitated for a moment. This bastard is mocking me, Matt thought.  
  
"Come on, Matt. Let him go."  
  
Regretfully, he did. O'Neal fixed his crumpled collar, dusted himself off and adjusted his glasses. "That's better."  
  
"What is Umbrella planning?" Pedro asked this time with no gun to the head.  
  
"Oh, you'll find out sooner or later. "Without warning, Steve suddenly brought out a small Beretta, and before either of the men could stop him, he shot himself. The dead body collapsed at once to the ground soon forming an enlarging puddle of its own blood. Pedro and Matt stared in silence.  
  
Matt banged his fist hard against the desk. "God dammit! Our only source of information is now lying face down on a heap of his blood! He knew too much!"  
  
"I thought people were killed when they knew too much."  
  
"This is different and you know it!"  
  
"Well, put it this way. The guy had the balls to kill himself."  
  
Matt sighed. "That doesn't help."  
  
"But I try."  
  
Both Pedro and Matt knew better than mourn for the dead in a situation like this, but they both paused for a moment before continuing back up the elevator to regroup with the others. As Pedro turned on his heel to leave, Matt stopped him.  
  
"How much faith do you have in your theory concerning the victims and the experiments? Do you think it could be the ones we're looking for?"  
  
Pedro grinned as he nodded in the affirmative. "Now you're thinking." 


	6. Flustered with Rage

Chapter 6: Flustered with Rage  
  
Even though Lain's eyes gestured the faintest hint of jest, Tom wasted no time for any more talk. He extended his hand in order to help Lain properly grab a hold of the slippery rungs of the ladder for her not to slip back into the water, and proceeded to climb up onto the catwalk's safety. Tom's pace was rather quick compared to Lain who continued to glance down every time she climbed a few rungs, expecting the alligator to jump out of the water to grab her at any second. At this point Tom didn't know what was causing him to have a severe headache, either the rancid smell of the water or the fact that his mind was racing so fast he couldn't even see straight. Within his own temporary haziness, Tom had thought for a moment that Lain had fallen to the water already long ago. He stopped climbing and looked down at his feet.  
  
"Lain!" Tom exclaimed as he saw Lain towards the bottom holding on to the ladder tightly. At the sound of Tom's voice, she looked up with sudden cautiousness.  
  
"Lain, what the hell are you waiting for? Come on!"  
  
"I can't!"  
  
"What do you mean you can't? You were doing just fine!" Tom replied with an exasperated look on his face.  
  
"I swear this thing won't stop until it's got me, Tom. You go on. Leave me here and go help yourself."  
  
Tom was furious now. "Come on, Lain, don't talk like that. You can do this. Trust me." Tom said as he tried to give her confidence. "You're a strong person. Listen to me, don't look down and come up as fast as you can. You can do it."  
  
Lain looked up at him with a sincere smile of gratitude, which at the same time made Tom blush for some peculiar reason. It was only a couple of hours in which she got to know Tom and yet something about the way he spoke to her set off a chain reaction of trust. She'd never expected him to be the caring kind especially in a situation like this, but for moment's sake, she listened to him instead of stalling. Suddenly, the alligator's tail lashed out from the water, knocking out Lain's stance on the ladder and almost knocking her back into the water. With the remaining strength in her arms, she pulled herself again onto the ladder with a heave.  
  
"Come on, Lain, pull yourself together." Tom muttered to himself.  
  
Finally, she had reached him after a few moments. As the water gradually filled the room, they began to climb together, Tom leading the way, until they reached the ledge of the catwalk. Tom stood himself up and helped Lain out of the ladder. As they met face to face, Tom began to rub Lain's arms at an effort to make her warmer. She had looked deathly pale to him.  
  
"This is why they call you ghost?" Tom asked.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You're pale as hell."  
  
"Oh. Yeah, well." She half giggled, trying to avoid eye contact with him but to no success. Tom seemed to smile at her. They pulled away from each other to Lain's misfortune and looked down from behind the catwalk's railing. It was high up from where they first began and the entrance to the room was now underwater.  
  
As Lain and Tom walked across the catwalk hovering over what used to be the aquariums, Tom couldn't help but look down once more to see the unimaginable size of the alligator. Its size was unimaginable, not even in his wildest dreams would he have thought such a thing existed. The alligator swam underwater like a goldfish in a tank, its shadow gliding in the water, searching. Tom still couldn't believe it's size, and its strength went beyond limits.  
  
"What do we do now?" Lain asked.  
  
"I'm not sure."  
  
"We can't stay for long, the room's filling up!"  
  
"I know, I know."  
  
The alligator began to dive from underneath the water, jumping up and snapping its jaws in midair. Tom signaled Lain to follow him toward the other ledge of the catwalk to a rusted door.  
  
"Jesus, don't they feed this thing?" Tom remarked as he took a last glance at the alligator. Lain didn't answer.  
  
As they stepped through the door, warm air filled their lungs. They stepped into what seemed like an old time living room complete with the usual antique furniture pieces. The carpet at heir feet and the two plush chairs were all fabricated a dark crimson red with golden floral imprints. The chairs faced a roaring fire that looked as though it hadn't been lit long ago. A couple of rogue candles also were lit through out the small room perhaps for the recent inhabitant. The room had two other doors on either side of a window overlooking the aquarium room beside the one that they had just entered through.  
  
"Well, this is quite a nice change," Tom said, grateful that there wasn't any kind of monster popping out at him for the moment.  
  
Lain just stood there, not saying a word and not looking too interested that they safe for the moment. She had recognized the room way before any event took place. Tom walked over to the small coffee table that stood between the two crimson chairs. There were a variety of papers scattered upon it, which broke the seemingly tidy trend. Tom did not hesitate to look through them. What have we here, Tom thought to himself as he spotted a note.  
  
"Hey! Come look at this!" Tom exclaimed.  
  
"What did you find this time?" Lain responded with concern thick in her voice. She had recognized the paper in his hand and thought of a way for him to not read it. Oblivious to Lain's intentions, Tom read the note out loud.  
  
CODENAME: RAGE  
  
BY INJECTING MORE OF THE T-VIRUS INTO ONE OF OUR "HUNTERS" WE HAVE CREATED WHAT WE CALL A "RAGE". THESE "RAGES" ARE AN EVOLVED FORM OF THE HUNTER, BEING ABLE TO NOT ONLY SMELL THEIR PREY FROM GREAT DISTANCES BUT ALSO BEING ABLE TO SEE IN INFRARED. UNFORTUNATLY WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO ACTUALLY HARNESS THEIR POWER YET, THEY ALWAYS SEEM TO BE IN A FIT OF ANGER AND ARE ALWAYS READY FOR THE HUNT ALTHOUGH THEY DON'T EAT MUCH. BECAUSE OF ALWAYS BEING IN A FIT OF ANGER THE ACTUAL SKIN OF THESE BEASTS HAVE CHANGED FROM A HUNTER GREEN TO A CRIMSON RED.  
  
"Hmm, it seems like it continues on another paper." Tom observed. He set the paper in his hand down and was about to search for another. Just then Lain collapsed onto the table, accidentally pushing the papers directly into the fire.  
  
"Lain!" Tom immediately crouched down to aid Lain. He turned her small body over in order to look at her pale skinned face. Her eyes were rolled back into her head in an unconscious manner, but judging from his senses, her pulse was still strong. What a time to faint, Tom thought bitterly. He was puzzled by Lain's sudden collision, especially since he saw nothing peculiar about the room for oneself to react in such a way. Tom only hoped that she wasn't dead, which most likely gave him the benefit of the doubt. But then again she could be internally hurt, Tom suggested silently.  
  
Crack!  
  
Tom turned his head violently. Something hit the door on his left side with tremendous force. The hit alone splintered the wood, and with no further thought Tom knew that with one more hit the door was going to come off it's hinges without resistance. Tom quickly stood up, jarred by fear and adrenaline. Another hit and the door splintered open and fell to the floor, and within the doorframe stood no other thing than the "Rage".  
  
"Holy Shit."  
  
If in a zoo, Tom would have mistaken it as an overgrown amphibian, or a mutant frog at that. Yet its head was incredibly distorted, and its body looked flustered but the most stunning attribute that this thing had was its claws. They touched the floor and were easily three feet long. It heaved its chest profoundly, Tom didn't pinpoint if it was either enraged to encounter him or calmed at the moment. Tom read its every movement, which seemed that Rage was not very happy to see him. Hence the name, Tom observed warily.  
  
Tom didn't hesitate to reach for his gun, though his hands were shaky when he aimed at the RAGE's head. He stood there, gun clenched tightly in hand, and waited for a proper chance to shoot. The monster simply roared aloud then hissed at the contraption in Tom's hand. It bent down slightly, getting ready to pounce. Without anymore warning, Tom fired three successive shots from his gun; the first two bullets pushed back the RAGE a few steps and the third to finally cause it to lose its balance.  
  
Finally he had a chance to escape through the opposite door. The only thing stopping him was Lain. He didn't want to leave her, especially when there was a rabid monster on the loose and since she had trusted him to help her, now he was on the verge of probably making an inconsiderate decision. Time seemed to go in milliseconds and he wasted it gradually. He glanced back and fourth between Lain's unconscious body and the wooden door, unable to decide the right path to choose. The monster was beginning to regain its balance and finally stood up once again. Tom grunted in anger and finally chose for the door. He ran toward it and turned the knob almost deliberately, he felt bad to be like this to Lain, even if she was unconscious. Tom slammed open the door and threw it roughly behind him, locking it.  
  
"Sorry, Lain." He whispered. Tom found himself in a long corridor, the wall to his left completely made of glass and he could see the whole catwalk from inside. The water had filled the room remarkably high. Tom ran his hand along the glass, knocking on it from time to time as if he inspected it. The glass was thick.  
  
The wooden door broke with no effort, only one thrust from the RAGE and the door cracked in two. Tom began to run as fast as he could. Even at his speed, the corridor seemed endless to Tom even after a few seconds of running and the monster behind him didn't seem to get any tired. Still, Tom ran. He came across a set of stairs and descended them, almost tripping on the last step. Finally, he came across to another door. He quickly grabbed the doorknob and turned it but the door was seemingly stuck. He pushed and pushed but it wouldn't budge. It was no use. Tom used another approach. He banged his side against the door furiously until it opened with ease. Tom closed the door behind him.  
  
Tom set his forehead against the door, panting and sweating as if he ran a long race. He caught his breath for the moment. Suddenly, he felt someone behind him. He turned quickly around on his heel and was now face to face with an unrecognized person.  
  
"Boo." Pierre snickered. Tom fell back against the wall and sighed in relief. "What the hell's wrong with you?"  
  
"I'm being chased by a monster!"  
  
"Big deal."  
  
"Where's Jon?" Tom asked.  
  
"Jon? I shot him."  
  
Tom's eyes widened. "What??" Pierre only laughed.  
  
"Stop being such an ass, Pierre." Jon said from behind. "So what's happened to you?"  
  
"I'm being chased by one of Umbrella's little pets."  
  
"A BOW?" Pierre asked.  
  
"That's right." Tom responded as he stood up. "RAGE or something like that. I was reading these documents on one of them and then suddenly one of those things just jumped out of nowhere."  
  
"I see." Pierre said.  
  
"Holy shit, I have to find Lain again!"  
  
"Wasn't she with you?" Jon asked.  
  
"She fell unconscious for some reason awhile ago."  
  
"Idiot! You left her behind?!" Jon exclaimed at Tom. Out of shame, Tom tiled his head down.  
  
"Chill out, Jon. I'd do the same if that scorpion had knocked you out." Pierre began. "It's called survival. Get used to it."  
  
The three men shared mixed feelings with one another, as they stayed silent amongst themselves, thinking about their next move. Pierre had suggested moving along and catching up with Pedro and Matt. He had begun to miss their so-called military professionalism, if he could even classify it as that. Going back for Lain was out of the question and it took up their time. Tom, on the other hand, needed to find her at all costs. Suddenly, they heard a shriek from beyond the wooden door. It was the RAGE. The men stood back, cautiously.  
  
"I suggest we move it." Tom said.  
  
But even with Tom's suggestion, they did not move from their place. They stood there, expecting to see the monster as if it were a circus act waiting to begin. With two violent pushes, the door was knocked down and the men were faced with Tom's pursuer.  
  
"Ok, we can start running now." Jon said.  
  
And so they did. They had been in a furnace room the whole time to Tom's fortune and they headed for a hallway to the left. The RAGE charged behind them yet Pierre had separated and ran up the ladder into a ventilation duct. He's ditching us, Jon thought angrily. Jon and Tom fan alongside each other as fast as they could but as their stamina decreased, they found a solution by taking out their weapons and presuming fire at the monster as they ran.  
  
"Guns are useless against this shit!" Tom exclaimed.  
  
"We're going to have to try another approach then!"  
  
"Well, think of something quick, we're coming to a dead end!"  
  
A few yards away, the hall came to an end. As far as Jon was concerned, they were officially screwed. Both men had their backs to the ending wall and the RAGE didn't seemed tired at all though it had paused in front of Jon and Tom. It hissed and growled in anguish.  
  
"Well, it's been nice knowing you Jon." Tom said in grief.  
  
Suddenly, something had kicked the ventilation duct door open from above the monster's position. Both men and the monster looked up with curiosity. From a blink of an eye, Pierre had jumped down on top of the monster with a long blade in his hand and began to thrust the blade repeatedly into the monster, thick blood splashing onto the ground, until finally he left it in his head.  
  
"Shit." Tom whispered.  
  
Pierre breathed heavily as he stood there watching the vulnerable monster. "Well, that weakened the piece of shit." He turned to Jon and Tom whom were completely shocked. "Quit gawking like a bunch of girls."  
  
"Christ, Pierre. I have to hand it to you." Jon began. "You're good. We owe you big time."  
  
Pierre scoffed. "Don't bother. I don't want anything from you. You could have done the same if you were properly trained."  
  
"Yeah." Jon nodded. "Let's go back now. We've gottta find this girl now."  
  
"Lain. Good idea." Tom suggested. "We've got to get back to Lain."  
  
Jon nodded in agreement. He regained his composure once more and set off with Tom back from where they started. But before they could get as far as a few steps, Pierre paused.  
  
He furrowed his eyebrows. "What the hell do you mean by 'we'?" 


	7. Elevator to Hell

Chapter 7: Elevator to Hell  
  
As Pedro and Matt made their way back to the elevator from which they had descended they couldn't help but feel a bit depressed. They had searched through all of the documents and had found nothing more than what Dr. O'Neal had told them.  
  
"There were six test subjects and there is six of us, and we are all looking for someone. What do you think the odds are of that being just a coincidence are?" Pedro asked as they stepped onto the rickety looking elevator.  
  
"I don't think that they are very good, but why would Umbrella use its own people as test subjects? Maybe the lower level ones, but these are the top ones," Matt argued.  
  
"I don't know, but I do plan on finding out," Pedro said as he pushed the "up" button on the elevator.  
  
The elevator began its slow ascent to the top, and again Matt looked as though he expected it to fall with each heave it gave upward. Now that Pedro thought of it the elevator did seem to be having a lot of trouble bringing the two to the top. No sooner had Pedro thought it than a large snap sounded from somewhere above them, and the small elevator turned lopsided as if shot by some unseen foe.  
  
"What the hell was that!" Pedro yelled even though he already knew the answer.  
  
"We have to get out of here," Matt said as if had been expecting this exact thing to happen.  
  
"Alright, how do we do that?" Pedro said trying to regain his composure.  
  
"Well, you could start by helping me pry these doors open," Matt said as if he had the whole thing planned out.  
  
Pedro gingerly walked over to the door as if he were walking on eggshells. The thought of having their combined weight on the same side of the elevator didn't seem too smart, but they didn't have any other choice. It didn't take the two of them long to pry the rusted doors open. They both gazed down to the black abyss not being able to tell where the ground was.  
  
"Tell me we are not going to make a leap of faith," Pedro said with a slight chuckle.  
  
Matthew lowered his night vision goggles over his eyes. Seeing in different shades of green, he saw the ground barely 9 feet down. But he didn't see a door awaiting them down there, but then again all elevators usually had an exit at the bottom. Why start assuming things about Umbrella now a voice in Matt's head said.  
  
"It's only about a nine or ten foot drop, so we should be alright just to make a leap of faith," Matt said without a smile on his face.  
  
"Rock, paper, scissors to see who goes down first," Pedro asked jokingly as he made a jump hoping that he didn't break both of his legs.  
  
Even as Pedro hit the floor he heard Matt silently hit the floor behind him. Surprised at how silent Matt had been in his descent seeing as Pedro weighed less than him and he had made a hell of a lot of sound. In front of them was an opening in the floor that looked as though it was descendible only by the ladder that looked almost as rickety as the elevator had. It must have been a service ladder, Pedro guessed, but made no movement towards the ladder.  
  
" I say we look for a safer route," Pedro suggested as he turned around to find that Matt was looking up towards the elevator.  
  
"Run," Matt said whispered so quietly that Pedro hadn't heard him.  
  
"What did you say?" Pedro said as he strained to hear him.  
  
Before Matt could even tell him again there was a loud snapping noise from above them as the last safety wire broke.  
  
"DOWN THE LADDER," Matt yelled as the elevator tumbled toward them like a freight train.  
  
Both men didn't waste any time, they both lunged for the ladder that had been a few feet away from then, knowing that it had to be safer than where they were right now. Not bothering with the ladder they both jumped down the hole, and landed hard against the cement at the bottom as a resounding boom was heard from above as the elevator hit the floor blocking them from the way they had come.  
  
"You okay?" Matt asked as he gradually got to a sitting position.  
  
"Well, I wouldn't say wonderful, but I'm not fatally injured," Pedro said as he rubbed his head that he had hit moments ago.  
  
As they slowly came back to their senses they realized that they had fallen into what seemed like an old fashioned bar room, complete with a full bar and pool tables.  
  
"Well, this is a nice change," Pedro said as he looked over the choice of liquors.  
  
"I wouldn't open up a bottle just yet, this place is dangerous enough without being drunk or with a hangover, Matt said as the voice of reason, I suppose one little drink won't hurt though, but not any more.  
  
"You're the boss," Pedro said playfully as he opened the bottle he had selected and poured two shots of whiskey into the shot glasses.  
  
The bar had two doors; one behind the bar and one to the left of where they had fallen in. Both of the doors were decorated with various names of people who had been there and had wanted to leave their mark. The bar itself looked as though everyone had left in quite a hurry seeing as all of the tables had been wiped off but all of the chairs had been scattered around the room.  
  
"You want to try the bar door first?" Pedro asked as he made his way over there.  
  
"Alright, since you've had such a sterling record with picking the way to go," Matt said as he stifled a laugh.  
  
As they walked through the door they smelled the rotting corpse before they actually saw it. The once human being might have been the bar tender, he was dressed in casual clothes and had a nametag attached to his shirt that read Jim. He might have once been a handsome man, but now lumps of rotting flesh covered the man's body and his scalp was mostly covered in open wounds. Without hesitating, Matt shot one shot that landed right above the thing's left eyebrow, sending the zombie sprawling backwards into a pool of its already collecting brain matter.  
  
"I hope that wasn't the alcohol fooling with me," Pedro said still looking down at the thing that Matt had just killed.  
  
"That is a zombie, just like the ones that you have probably seen on the late night creature features," Matt explained as if he were talking about the weather.  
  
After searching what had once been the bar tender's room, they came up with nothing but a pile of letters to the bartender's girlfriend and some old whiskey. As, they came back out to the bar room, they hurriedly strode over to the only door that was left, both of them silently hoping that it led somewhere besides where they were now.  
  
"What do we have for our contestants behind door number two," Pedro said as they stepped to the door.  
  
Before Matt could even attempt to smile the doorknob began to turn, and out stepped the last person they thought they would see. 


	8. Dead People Don't Just Move

Chapter 8: Dead People Do Not Just Move  
  
Authors Note: Unfortunately something is screwed up on ff.net to the point where I cannot insert an apostrophe or quotation marks so please bare with me, and tell me what you think.  
  
Pierre stood rigid backed as Jon and Tom turned around to see why he had stopped. The hallway seemed instantly colder when they saw the look of a killer in Pierres cold blue eyes.  
  
I am not going to go look for some girl with you just because Tom here has a little crush on her, Pierre said without a hint of a joke in his voice.  
  
Its not about whether Tom likes her or not, but she is one of our teammates and we cant leave her behind, Jon said coming to Toms defense.  
  
Tom could not make a noise as Pierre accused him of thinking of Lain as anything more than a teammate. Is that not true though, a voice in the back of Toms mind said. Did he like her? Why would he not? She was beautiful, kind, and from what he could tell smart. Yeah, she zoned out and had low self-esteem, but that did not matter much to him. Tom quickly snapped out of his deep thought as he realized that Pierres eyes were burning into him.  
  
What the hell does it matter to you if I like her? She is still our teammate and we cannot leave her behind. But then again, you are so ruthless you probably do not give a shit about your teammates, let alone one that is a girl, Tom said as his feelings bubbled to the top.  
  
Who the fuck do you think you are talking to?! Pierre said as he unsheathed his stainless steal combat knife and brought it to rest at Toms neck. You do not know shit about me and you never will, so shut the fuck up, Pierre said as he gained control of his temper.  
  
Pierre would not waste his time with these two and their little expedition for that girl. He had better things to do. Let them get their selves killed, it would save him the time. Besides he needed to catch up with Matt and Pedro to see if they had found any information. Their professionalism would be welcomed after being with these bunch of dumb asses, Pierre thought as he turned away from the two men and jumped into the ventilation shaft that he had jumped out of moments ago.  
  
What was that all about? Jon said as he walked over to hand Tom a piece of paper to wipe the blood from his neck on.  
  
I do not have a clue, and personally I do not care. We better get moving, Tom said as he wiped the blood off of the shallow cut Pierre had inflicted on him. He was going to have a lovely cut along the underside of his jaw, but it was nothing compared to what he must of done to Pierres pride he thought.  
  
The hallways did not seem as long going up them as they had seemed when Tom was being chased by that thing down them he thought as the two neared the room where he had left Lain. Tom was thankful for the lack of conversation so far. He did not want to have to answer any questions about his judgment when he had left Lain. It was not his fault, he had done what he thought was best.  
  
Why did you leave her? Jon asked before Tom could reach the safety of the room.  
  
I thought that maybe since she was not moving the thing would pass her by, Tom hesitantly answered as he opened the door.  
  
The fire crackled softly as the two stepped into the room. The room was as Tom had last seen it, everything in place even the splintered door lying on the floor. The room was still warmly lit, and there was a faint smell of cinnamon in the air. Everything was in place except for Lain.  
  
Where the hell is she? Jon asked as he looked around the tastefully decorated room.  
  
I left her here! Dead people don not just get up and move!! Tom said as he frantically searched the room for any sign of where she was; guilt hitting him like a ton of bricks.  
  
Lain slide silently through the door that the Rage had once stood in as she heard heavy footsteps running down the hallway. The door led to a wide starch white hallway where an iron door was set into the wall at the end. A picture of a dove with its wings broken lying on a stone was set in place in the middle of the door. Inscribed under the picture were the words TO LIVE LIFE WITHOUT DREAMS IS LIKE A DOVE LIVING LIFE WITHOUT WINGS. A golden plate was set into the picture as some sort of scale.  
  
Umbrella was famous for its mind games and puzzles, but this one was pathetically easy. Lain quickly retrieved a decorative set of golden wings out of her pocket and set them onto the golden plate. The plate slowly slid down unlocking the door. The others would not be able to get past the door, even though there was another set of wings strewn among the Umbrella facility but she highly doubted that they would be able to find them. As she stepped through the door, she grabbed the wings from the plate and shut the door behind her, leaving her in the most dangerous part of the facility. 


	9. Death Of An Innocent

Chapter 9: Death Of An Innocent  
  
In the wooden doorway stood a calm and cool Pierre. Matt couldn't believe how calm he was since Pierre's clothes were ripped nearly to shreds. A long cut ran from the shoulder of Pierre's hunter green shirt all the way to his abdomen. There was a shallow cut that was bleeding through onto what was left of his shirt, but nothing life threatening, not that Matt would care if it was a little deeper for Pierre. His hair was also a tad messed up, not that you could tell it.  
  
"What the hell happened to you?" Pedro immediately asked after he got over the shock of seeing Pierre standing there.  
  
"Nothing, I had a little run in with one of Umbrella's pets in the ventilation system," Pierre said as he dusted his shirt off.  
  
"Where's Jon?" Matt asked just realizing that he wasn't trailing Pierre.  
  
"We found Tom, and him and Jon took off to look for Lain. Apparently, Tom left her in some room why he was being chased by one of Umbrella's experiments," Pierre answered growing tired of being interrogated by Matt.  
  
"Ah, I figured you killed him," Pedro said with a chuckle, but quickly stopped when he noticed the expressions on the other two men's faces.  
  
Pierre and Matt just looked at him knowing that it wasn't out of Pierre's range to kill an innocent man. Matt didn't trust Pierre anymore than he could throw him. Umbrella's top agent doesn't just get laid off, and then join a bunch of rogue fighters to bring Umbrella down. And he seemed to know every little bend and turn in each hall which just put Matt more on edge about Pierre's loyalty to Umbrella.  
  
"Why didn't you go with Jon and Tom?" Matt asked not taking the heat off of Pierre for a moment.  
  
"I have some valuable information for you that will help you find your friends and family, or at least find out what happened to them," Pierre said smugly knowing that Matt would have to put his full trust in him.  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for," Pedro said not noticing the fact that Pierre and Matt were glaring at each other.  
  
Pierre didn't like Matt's distrust of him, but he really didn't have to care about it since Matt probably wouldn't make it past the Nemesis IIIs. Yet, Matt did seem to be somewhat of a fighter, so he could yet make it out, but Pierre could easily remedy that. Pierre quickly broke eye contact with Matt and focused on Pedro.  
  
"I used to train here, so I know for a fact that Lord Spencer's office is located here and he keeps files of every experiment in his file cabinets there. Unfortunately, the only way to get into the east wing where it's located is by having a set of golden wings," Pierre informed them.  
  
"Bullshit, no way that's true. You're probably just leading us there so you can kill us like Jon," Pedro muttered under his breath.  
  
"I looked for one set of them in an office on the way over here, but they had already been taken. Leaving the only other set in the training arena," Pierre said with a slight smile. He couldn't wait for them to find out what their opponent was.  
  
"Fine, where is this training area?" Matt asked not the least bit happy that he was gong to have to follow Pierre.  
  
Pierre quickly stepped far enough out of the door for them to pass. The training area was only a hop, skip, and a jump away from where they were. Just through the hallway in fact. The room was a large room about the size of a football field and the top was in the shape of a dome letting the early sunlight cascade into the room. The room was covered in an inch of water with a large tree sitting in the middle of the floor, giving the effect of someone's backyard. The room had a blue tint from the sun streaming in through the blue glass of the top of the dome. As Pedro looked out across the field he could just make out the glint of a pair of golden wings, and the faint sound of a child playing.  
  
Tom easily slid through the ventilation shaft, the smooth steel cold against his skin. He felt horrible about losing Lain. If he had just stood and fought she wouldn't be dead or missing or whatever she was. When they had searched and not been able to find her they had backtracked and climbed into the vent. Not that regrouping with Pierre seemed all that appealing to Tom after their little confrontation before.  
  
"Tom, don't sweat it, it wasn't your fault," Jon said from somewhere behind him in the small shaft.  
  
"Yeah it was, if I had just stayed and fought we wouldn't have lost her," Tom's words were muffled as he ran into a spider web.  
  
"If you would have stayed you would have died," Jon shouted as he started coughing uncontrollably.  
  
"Are you okay?" Tom asked as tried to turn around in the small vent so he could reach his fallen friend.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just haven't been feeling to good, coughing a lot. It must be these damn spider webs," Jon said as he flashed Tom a smile.  
  
Jon hadn't been feeling good since they entered this damn place. Not only was it filled with spider webs, but also the air conditioning system seemed to blow harder each moment sending a chill up his spine. He just wanted to find his friend and get the hell out of here as fast as he could.  
  
"Do you hear that?" Tom said from somewhere ahead of him.  
  
"Yeah, it sounds like voices," Jon said finally as he caught the sound.  
  
Pedro slowly stepped into the semi-flooded room just in time to hear the steel door behind him slam shut. Now they were locked in this damn room, but all they had to do was get the wings, which couldn't be that hard. Umbrella must have been perverts, because the only sound besides the sloshing of their boots was the sound of a child playing.  
  
"Where the hell is that sound coming from?" Pedro spoke up finally.  
  
"Right in front of you," Matt said as he pointed to a little girl swinging on a swing.  
  
The girl was very young, barely seven Matt guessed. Her long dark hair was swaying in the air as she continued to laugh and play on the swing. She wore a pale white sundress that matched her skin tone. Her deep green eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked at the three men that were making their way towards her.  
  
"It's okay, nobody here is going to hurt you," Matt said as he kneeled down to be on her level.  
  
"Stand up," Pierre growled at Matt.  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?" Matt growled back as he stood up to face Pierre.  
  
The young girl immediately stopped swinging when she noticed the confrontation between Pierre and Matt. She started to run to them crying, but Pierre stopped her midway with a shot just under her left shoulder. She stopped dead in her tracks and fell to her knees as blood stained her white dress. She quickly fell back into the waiting puddle of her own blood.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?!" Matt and Pedro yelled in unison.  
  
"Go get the golden wings," Pierre told Pedro coolly.  
  
"What the hell are you talking about, you just killed an innocent child!" Pedro yelled at Pierre's cold eyes.  
  
"Do it, or you are going to be the next one to shoot the girl," Pierre said as he glanced at the fallen girl.  
  
"You'll go to jail for this and hell too, I'll make sure of that," Matt hissed at Pierre as he walked toward the golden wings that were suspended on the other side of the room.  
  
"Take a look around Matt, we are in hell," Pierre yelled after him.  
  
Pedro hesitantly strode over to the dead girl's body. It felt wrong not to say a few words for her, he thought. The blood from the wound above her shoulder had soaked through the entire front of her dress. Her glazed over eyes were gazing blankly at the top of the dome. Pedro couldn't take it anymore and turned away from the body.  
  
"What the fuck!" Pedro heard Matt shout as he looked back over Pedro's shoulder.  
  
The young girl's skin was literally "melting" away from her revealing thick black skin underneath. The skin on her face peeled back revealing many surgical scars and a piranha like mouth.  
  
"See, if you would have moved your asses when I told you to we could have avoided this whole situation," Pierre said calmly as he drew his magnum up to face the beast.  
  
The girl, if you could call it that, had made itself upright. It had mutated and grown to nearly double what the girl's size was standing nearly eight feet high. Its body was covered in charred black skin like rubber, with a menacing face. By far though the most noticeable part of its body was the long tentacles that were protruding from where arms should be.  
  
"That is Umbrella's famed Nemesis III," Pierre informed them as he opened fire on the thing.  
  
Pedro quickly dodged the thing as it broke into a run straight for him. Pierre and Matt barraged the thing with bullets as Pierre opened fire with his dual magnums and Matt with his F-1100 rifle. Pierre found his mark hitting the thing dead in the right eye as the other one found its mark on the left eye. The thing paused for a moment realizing that it couldn't see its prey. After realizing that it could smell them just as well, it continued its progress towards them, doubling its speed to make up for lost time. Matt found his mark hitting the thing right above the left kneecap, ripping its charred flesh revealing the white of bone. The thing stumbled to the ground as another shot from Matt splintered its kneecap.  
  
Pedro, who had been forgotten earlier in the battle, came up behind the thing looking at the horrible creature. It still flailed madly, trying to reach Pedro with a grasp of its slimy tentacle, but Pedro quickly put a stop to that by pulling his AK-47 and shooting it where its shoulder would be, severing the nerve to the tentacle.  
  
"That was awful easy for one of Umbrella's "stars" don't you think?" Pedro asked as he brought his boot down over the things head with a sickly thud.  
  
"You're just lucky it was a younger version, but don't worry I am sure the older ones are around here somewhere," Pierre smirked.  
  
"Did you get the wings?" Pedro asked as he looked over the room.  
  
"The death of an innocent child for this. Damn Umbrella!" Matt said as he turned the small gold jewel in his hand.  
  
Without warning, the door that they had entered though swung open. Everyone raised their weapons ready to kill the unknown foe.  
  
"Relax guys, its just me and Jon," Tom yelled as he stepped through the door with his hands raised. 


	10. A Soldier's Death

Chapter 10: A Soldier's Death  
  
As they stepped into the tastefully decorated room, the warm smell of cinnamon washed over them. Matt quickly stepped in front of the others in order to check its safety. The room where Tom had left Lain in before was very homely, a rich crimson colored the carpet along with the chairs that faced the warm fire. A splintered door lie in the doorway in front of him, a few splinters crunched under his boots as he continued his sweep of the room. His F-1100 composite rifle focused at some unseen foe. Without warning, Tom hurtled the splintered door that was lying on the ground and ran to the side of the fireplace.  
  
"Lain, are you okay," he shouted frantically as he shook her.  
  
"Yeah, I thought you were one of those things," Lain exclaimed as she fell into Tom's arms crying.  
  
"I thought you said you checked here," Pedro said looking back at Jon who had positioned himself in the back.  
  
"Yeah, we did. She wasn't here when we came back," Jon said with a puzzled look.  
  
"It doesn't matter, we need to keep moving," Pierre said as he stepped in front of Matt to push the group forward.  
  
Tom helped Lain up as he saw Pierre give him a sharp glance as he told them to move out. The splintered door led to a short iridescently white hallway. The color nearly blinded Tom as he pushed himself through it. Thankfully, the hallway was short and was abruptly ended by a steel gray door with a picture suspended in the center of it. Without reading the passage written in black at the bottom of the picture, Pierre coolly slid the golden wings into the golden plate that was protruding from the center. The door gave a faint shudder and then the locking mechanism released with a soft click.  
  
"What the hell is this?" Pedro muttered under his breath as he stepped into the hallway that the door led to.  
  
The hallway they stepped into was, thankfully, a duller shade of white being more of a beige. The hallway bottlenecked at the end, giving way to six doors. Each door was a different color and held a different poem on it. Pierre, realizing that Umbrella had changed the architecture of the room, quickly moved ahead to be the first to see what the new puzzle was.  
  
"If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried," Pierre read the inscription on the door closest to the left.  
  
"That's what my dad used to say to me when I got tired of trying," Pedro said with a light chuckle.  
  
"How the hell does Umbrella know personal things like that," Matt asked to no one in particular as Pierre moved to the next door and started reading the inscription.  
  
"Borrow money from pessimists-they don't expect it back," Pierre read out loud less than enthusiastically.  
  
"That's what my dad told me before I went to college," Jon said as he made his way to the door.  
  
"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing," Pierre recited from the text of the third door.  
  
"My dad told me that before he went to work everyday," Lain said barely above a whisper as she stumbled to the door.  
  
"The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion," Pierre muttered growing tired of being the one to read the inscriptions.  
  
"That'd be mine," Tom said already standing there.  
  
"The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving," Pierre said as he stifled a chuckle.  
  
"What do you find so humorous?" Matt spat as he stepped forward to take his place at his door.  
  
"The fact that you find war to be simple," Pierre said not backing down from Matt.  
  
"Just watch you're back Pierre, I wouldn't want you to get yourself killed before I can do it," Matt growled over his shoulder as he stepped though his door.  
  
Even as Matt was still stepping through the door, it slammed shut leaving Matt no choice but to continue through the room. The room was a very quite office that held a various number of cubicles. The carpet was a very dull gray that matched the mood of the rest of the room. A small ceiling fan was slowly running overhead as Matt swept the room with his rifle, ready to kill anything that moved. The only way out looked to be a door that was set into the wall on the opposite side of where he currently was.  
  
Matt was on his way to the door when he heard a muffled sound come out of the cubicle directly to his left. He silently readied his gun for battle as he whipped his body around to face the entrance to the cubicle. He quickly shouldered his weapon as he saw a women gagged and tied to a chair.  
  
"Mel, are you alright?" Matt said concern deep in his words as he talked to his fiancé.  
  
"Yeah just a little scared," Melissa Jones said as Matt removed the gag from her mouth and started working on the ropes that bound her to the chair.  
  
"What did they do to you?" Matt said as he freed Melissa from her rope prison.  
  
Melissa placed a reassuring hand on Matt's shoulder, her blue eyes glistening from the overhead office lights. As Matt watched her eyes they turned from their former dark blue to a pale gray. She quickly took her hand off of its former place at his shoulder and hit him across the face sending him reeling backwards.  
  
Matt sat where he landed frozen with shock. She had barely hit him and it had knocked him clear across the room. Matt didn't have to ask, Umbrella had turned her into one of their Nemesis IIIs, a fate worse than death. He was responsible for it, if he hadn't agreed to let her give him information she wouldn't be standing here. He knew what he had to do, it was gong to kill him to do it, but it had to be done. Matt quickly brought his rifle to his shoulder and closed his eyes as he pulled the trigger.  
  
Her screams echoed in Matt's ears as he continued to shoot well after he heard the dry click telling him that he was out of bullets. He looked down at the thing's body, unlike the child's its skin only "melted" away around its face. There was a hole clear through her abdomen where the bullets had hit her, leaving a crimson puddle where her body finally fell. As Matt looked down at his once fiancé he noticed her head turn to the side.  
  
"You said you wouldn't let anything happen to me," the thing gurgled before letting its head be engulfed by the pool.  
  
Matt knew he couldn't linger over the body, even though his heart was breaking. He slowly stood up, kissing his fiancé's hand before he made his way past the other cubicles to the door. His heart was heavy with guilt, sorrow, and regret as he stepped through the door only to see his teammates waiting for him.  
  
"What was in your door?" Pierre asked as Matt reached them.  
  
"Nothing," Matt said shortly wanting to be strong for his team.  
  
"Aren't you the lucky one. Pierre found a picture of his family; Lain found her dad's wedding ring along with his body floating in a tube; Tom found his mom's locket and his mom lying over a desk dead; Jon found a pack of matches with his friend's favorite bar on them and his friend lying over a computer dead, and I found Emma's body, the girl I came her looking for. So, it looks like you got the good end of the deal," Pedro said seeming somewhat depressed but trying to keep the team's morale up.  
  
The corridor they all stood in was one that was very familiar to Pierre. He had walked this hallway many times when he was a boy. This was the hallway to Lord Spencer's office. It was quite a long hallway, probably the longest in the facility. Pierre quickly turned around after leading his team about 200 yards into the hallway, realizing that he only heard four people breathing behind him.  
  
"Where the hell is Jon?" Pierre said irritation creeping into his voice.  
  
"He's right behind-" Tom started but quickly stopped when he realized that his friend wasn't where he had been.  
  
Tom didn't have to look far; he could see the outline of Jon's body almost 100 yards down the hall the way they had come. He was leaning against the wall, his chest heaving with each breath he took. It didn't take long for the rest of the team to catch on to what he was looking at and begin their sprint down the hall to Jon.  
  
"He's infected," Pierre said coolly as he reached the small group that was huddled around their fallen teammate.  
  
"How do you know that, he could just be having an allergic reaction to the spider webs," Tom said trying to convince the others as well as himself that his friend's death wasn't sealed.  
  
Pierre quickly parted the group, and opened Jon's eyes as he continued to gasp for air. His eyes were already starting to produce a white film that was sliding over Jon's eyes. His body shook and convulsed violently as Pierre checked for a pulse.  
  
"You have about 23 seconds to use one bullet and kill him, and if you don't it's going to take a lot more. Use the one bullet and give him a soldier's death," Pierre said calmly as he raised himself back up from his crouching position.  
  
"I'll do it," Tom said barely above a whisper.  
  
Tom raised his small Berretta level with the convulsing man's eyebrow, and fired a quick shot. Blood splattered the white tile wall behind Jon as he immediately stopped convulsing. Tom quickly holstered his gun and said a quick prayer for his fallen teammate and brother. Umbrella would pay for that, he would make sure of it.  
  
The rest of the team didn't take up too much time in mourning as they made their way to Lord Spencer's office. The large oak door stopped them in their tracks. Along the top of the door in gold print was the word "Private". Pedro gripped his gun twice as hard, as Matt hit the door squarely knocking it off its hinges. The whole team focused their guns on the swivel chair behind the large oak desk as it turned around to face them.  
  
"Hello Mr. O'Neal," Pierre said smoothly as he focused his gun right above Mr. O'Neal's left eyebrow.  
  
Author's note: And no, when I am talking about Mr. O'Neal here, it is not the scientist. This Mr. O'Neal is Lord Spencer's lap dog, and if you've read "The Silenced Gun" you already know what I am talking about. Hope you enjoyed it and R&R. 


	11. Unraveled Plans

Author's note: As we near the end for our brave companions, I would just like to think everybody who entered a character and made it possible and all the people who reviewed and kept the story going. I really appreciate it. And this chapter is dedicated to you. Anyhoo, on with the show.  
  
Chapter 11: Unraveled Plans  
  
The man that sat in front of them in the small office looked to be in his late 40s and had jet black hair except for the scattered gray flecks that peppered his hair. He had dark gray eyes and wore a dark suit as he sat in the swivel chair. Pierre quickly aimed his gun ready to kill the man.  
  
"Wait! This man might have some information for us," Matt shouted to keep Pierre from immediately killing the man.  
  
"Yes indeed, Mr. Ryan," the man who Pierre identified as Mr. O'Neal said as he cowered in his chair.  
  
Pierre reluctantly lowered his gun realizing that Matt might be right. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometime, Pierre thought. Matt quickly strode over to where Mr. O'Neal sat and put the barrel of his rifle to the man's head.  
  
"Mr. O'Neal if you value your life the least bit you are going to tell us what the hell happened here, and why you killed our friends," Matt shouted at him even though he was standing right next to the man.  
  
"Mr. Ryan, I know everything about your make shift team," Mr. O'Neal said sounding more confident than he looked. "You are in the SOC and have caused many problems for Umbrella. You were engaged to a researcher here, a Ms. Jones. Mr. Burgess has been quite the trouble maker not only for Umbrella, but for the government in general making him quite expendable. His mother was one of our many experiments here. His father was a high ranking member of the American knights. Ms. Meiers, has been quite the good girl. Her mother died from what was classified as a "mysterious illness." She was raised by her father who was a researcher here. Mr. Acosta, your new found friend, has been in the military since the age of 18. He came here looking for one of his missing colleagues, or should I say love interest, a Ms. Magnus. And last but not least our Mr. Dupree. He was trained and housed here, while Umbrella developed him into the perfect killing machine," Mr. O'Neal finished with a slight smile seeming pleased with himself.  
  
"Fuck this; I am going to kill him now!" Pedro said as he raised his gun to face Mr. O'Neal.  
  
"Pedro, you shoot him and I'll shoot you," Pierre said wanting to make sure that Mr. O'Neal was scared shitless before he killed him.  
  
Pedro relaxed his gun, but not because Pierre asked him to but because he wanted to find out why the hell they had taken their friends. Why would a company like Umbrella want a few researchers?  
  
"Why the hell did you kill the researchers?" Matt asked as if reading Pedro's mind.  
  
"I am not at liberty to say, Mr. Ryan," Mr. O'Neal said as he spat in Matt's face.  
  
Without thinking about it, Matt pulled his rifle away from Mr. O'Neal's head and shot him in the left knee causing Mr. O'Neal to scream in pain. Mr. O'Neal although he tried to act tough by spitting in Matt's face was a coward. All you had to do was give him the right motivation and he would tell you whatever you wanted to hear, Pierre knew this from experience.  
  
"Now let's try this again, why did Umbrella kill the researchers?" Matt spat at the man as he grew impatient.  
  
Mr. O'Neal rolled closer to the desk trying to buy himself sometime to think whether he should say anything or not. He placed his hands under the desk as he began to tell them what had happened. It's not like they'll make it out of the facility, Mr. O'Neal thought.  
  
"There was a leak in the company; a group of people were giving away valuable information about the bioweapons program we run here at Umbrella. The only way to draw the conspirators out was by making it look as though Umbrella had lost funding and gone under. The traitors, as expected, were apprehended within a week after the "fall" of Umbrella. To Umbrella's dismay the 6 traitors ranked very highly in the ranks. Never the less, Umbrella doesn't handle treason lightly, and they became volunteered specimens for our Nemesis III program. Unfortunately, shortly after they were injected with the virus the alpha female killed all but two other females and one of the males. She was codenamed Alpha. Seeing how easily the "Alpha" had killed the other Nemesis IIIs Umbrella ordered the destruction of all of them except the Alpha. Alpha escaped into the facility shortly after it closed infecting the facility. Don't worry, Umbrella will rise again in a couple of months claiming new funding," Mr. O'Neal said as he fumbled for something under the desk.  
  
Without warning, a loud siren started to ring in their ears as a calm voice came over the intercom system saying, "The self destruct system has been activated, all personal please make your way to the aircraft hangar." Mr. O'Neal let out a short laugh as he rested back in his chair, knowing that they wouldn't make it out in time. Matt wasted no time, now that he knew that this Mr. O'Neal had told them everything he knew. Matt let out a short burst from his rifle, the bullets hitting Mr. O'Neal squarely in the chest. Blood stained the chair as he slumped into it lifeless. His suit quickly changed from a dark black to a crimson red.  
  
"That's for Melissa," Matt muttered under his breath as he spat on the now dead Mr. O'Neal.  
  
Matt pushed him out of the chair to get a better look at the computer that sat on the desk in front of the chair. Mr. O'Neal's body crumpled to the floor, as a pool started to collect under its new resting place. Matt's hands quickly danced across the keyboard as he frantically searched for a way to cancel the request for the self destruction of the facility.  
  
"You're wasting your time. Alarm activation from this room can't be overridden, so I suggest we make our way to the hangar. I have been there and I can lead you," Pierre said as he made his way towards the door.  
  
"I don't trust you near enough to do that," Matt said as he pulled the instructions to the hangar from out of the printer. 


	12. The Final Showdown

Author's note: This chapter might not make 100% sense if you haven't read "The Silenced Gun" but Pierre has heightened senses, and that's all I am going to tell you, but if you want to find out why you can read chapter 6 of "The Silenced Gun."  
  
Chapter 12: The Final Showdown  
  
The hangar was a huge dimly lit room that gave Tom the impression of being in a horror movie. The shadows from the swinging overhead lights made shadows dance along the various planes and helicopters. It's almost over, was all Tom could think about as he stepped into shadows.  
  
"I can fly that," Matt said as he pointed to a black helicopter that was positioned only about 100 yards away from the entrance.  
  
"You're sure?" Pedro asked not wanting to crash and burn after he finally got the hell out of here.  
  
"Yeah, just like driving a car. Why I check it out why don't you all try to see if you can scrounge up any information or weapons from around here," Matt said as he shot a quick smile back at Pedro.  
  
Pierre detested Matt immensely, because he always had to be the leader and tell everyone what to do, Pierre thought as he started foraging through the nearby helicopters to see if he could find any information. This was one screw up of a mission; he had gotten stuck with Tom, a guy who seemed to trust anyone; Lain, some girl who never seemed to talk at all; Pedro, the jokester of the group and total screw up; and last and least Matt, the unelected leader of the group. What an American cowboy.  
  
Tom had gone with Lain to try and rummage through a stack of papers in the hangar's office. The small office was very plain, only containing a desk which held a computer and a few personal effects of its occupant along with a giant stack of papers.  
  
"At least it's finally almost over," Tom breathed as he continued to rummage through the papers.  
  
"For the moment, but Umbrella has hundreds of facilities just like this one," Lain said shortly as a tear coursed down her pale white cheek.  
  
"Hey guys check out what I found," Pedro said as he burst through the door to the office holding a gray grenade with a yellow band across it.  
  
"A grenade, good for you," Tom said not knowing what was so important about it.  
  
"Not just any grenade, but a white phosphorous hand grenade. It'll stick to anything and burn deep into the flesh of anything within a 30 meter radius and underwater for that matter. They were banned by the United States a while back," Pedro explained seemingly pleased with himself.  
  
"Did you all find anything yet?" Pierre asked in his usual cold tone as he stepped into the office.  
  
"Not to much, a white phosphorous grenade, but other than that nothing worth talking about," Pedro said more professionally now that he was talking to Pierre.  
  
"What about you, Tom and Lain?" Pierre asked obviously not as excited about the hand grenade as Pedro had been.  
  
"Just flight records," Tom said rigidly.  
  
Pierre quickly stepped to the wooden desk to look over the papers. That's when he smelled it, he probably hadn't smelled it before because he hadn't been close enough, but now the smell was strong in the air. As he accidentally rubbed against Lain on his way to the desk he smelled her blood. The abnormal smell of blood that had been infected with Umbrella's virus. He could even hear her heart beating abnormally slow now that he was this close to her. The Alpha had been under his nose the whole time, and he hadn't noticed it. She had been the one he had saw at the facility the day that he took the "Operation: Sherlock" mission. Pierre quickly whipped his magnum out of its holster and brought it to her face.  
  
"What the hell are you doing!" Pedro and Tom shouted in unison.  
  
"She's the Alpha," Pierre said flatly.  
  
"You've gone mad! Tom yelled as ran over to Lain aiming his colt .45 at Pierre.  
  
Pedro attempted to step forward to try and calm them both down, but was met with Pierre's cold glance.  
  
"You move over here Acosta and I'll shoot you if that means keeping you away from her," Pierre shouted at Pedro.  
  
The intercom blared loudly as a calm feminine voice came over it saying, "Self destruct will commence in t minus 90 seconds."  
  
Matt burst in the door, after he heard the sound of voices shouting in the office. There was Pierre holding a gun at point blank range at Lain's head. Tom had stepped in front of a cowering Lain aiming his colt .45 at Pierre, and Pedro was bouncing back and forth with his gun from Pierre to Lain and back.  
  
"What the fuck is going on?" Matt demanded as he stepped into the room.  
  
"Lain is the alpha, I can smell it on her," Pierre said coolly.  
  
"He's crazy, Pierre is trying to kill us off one by one," Tom shouted to Matt without taking his gaze away from Pierre.  
  
Lain's body had started to tremble as she stood behind Tom. Her small frame was no match for Tom's body, if Pierre was going to shoot her he was going to have to shoot through Tom. Her emerald eyes shone brightly as she put her hand on the small of Tom's back.  
  
Before Matt even had a chance to call to Tom, a wriggling slimy tentacle pierced through Tom's back. Tom didn't have time to look back at his unknown killer as blood began to course down his shirt onto his pants as a tentacle flailed around as if looking for something through his body. He had come to protect Lain from her attacker when she had been the one he should have feared. How ironic, was the last thing Tom thought as he fell to a dark abyss.  
  
Pierre quickly hurdled the desk in an attempt to get a little distance between him and the Alpha. Matt and Pedro had already begun to fire at will at the melting form of Lain. Every bullet that hit her body seem to disappear into melting flesh as it gave way to the new charred rubber that covered her body.  
  
"What the hell are we going to do?" Pedro shouted to be heard above the firing.  
  
"Run to the damn helicopter, at least we'll get her out into the open," Matt yelled back as he doubled his rate of fire to cover Pedro and Pierre as they rushed to get out the door.  
  
Pierre, after running through the covered door, turned around as he heard the door slam behind Matt. The Alpha was moving at a slow pace behind Matt as it splintered through the door at a walk. They quickly began their barrage of fire even as they continued to back up to the helicopter. Pierre was hitting the thing every time squarely in the chest with dual magnums and it wasn't even flinching. The thing would not go down, as it retracted its tentacles in order to lash them back out.  
  
Matt felt as if he were in a nightmare as he heard the soft click telling him he was out of bullets. Why the hell had he wasted so many on simple creatures, was the only thought that Matt could think of. Matt felt a pair of cold hands grab him by the shoulders and shove him into the waiting helicopter.  
  
"What the fuck are you doing Pierre!" Matt said as he realized that Pierre had pushed him into the darkness of the helicopter.  
  
"Saving your ass!" Pierre called back as he continued the onslaught.  
  
Knowing that he didn't have anything to fight the Alpha with, he quickly started the engine of the black Night Hawk Helicopter. He would be damned if he would let what was left of his team die, he thought as he began to rev up the engines so they could get the hell out of here.  
  
"Self destruct will commence in t minus 40 seconds."  
  
The Alpha's body had completely melted away by the time that it came close to Pierre and Pedro. Its body was covered in black charred flesh, except for the long tentacles that protruded from where its arms should have been. Its face was by far the most hideous though, two narrow slits for eyes were covered by a milky white substance and the skin was pulled back from its mouth revealing piranha like teeth. Surgical scars peppered its nightmarish face.  
  
Pedro could see the Alpha whip its tentacles in his direction but continued to fire at the horrid beast, each shot of his AK-47 embedding itself into the creature's rubbery skin. Suddenly Pedro felt a sharp pain in his left leg. The pain was searing as he looked down at the wound. Blood was seeping out of the fresh wound that the Alpha had made by barely grazing his leg with its long tentacle. Pedro immediately fell to the ground even as the Alpha continued to close the distance to him.  
  
Pierre saw the Alpha's tentacle whip out and catch Pedro in the leg. The Alpha was closing quickly on him, and was only 30 yards away. The puddle of blood around Pedro's fallen leg was getting wider by the minute even as he struggled to get upright to continue the fight. Pierre immediately ran to the fallen soldier's side putting aside the fact that he had been trained not to care.  
  
"Self destruct will commence in t minus 20 seconds."  
  
"Get the hell away from me you're going to get yourself killed!" Pedro shouted as he saw Pierre running towards him.  
  
"Shut up, we are going to get you the hell out of here," Pierre muttered as he tried to lift Pedro to his feet.  
  
"You saved my life by not letting me near Lain in the office, now I am going to return the favor," Pedro said as he took the last bit of strength he had and shoved Pierre as hard as he could into the waiting helicopter.  
  
Pierre fell hard against the helicopter sending his magnums spiraling towards the ground. Pierre looked back at where he had stood moments before and saw the Alpha looming over Pedro's fallen body, and something in Pedro's hand. It looked like, it couldn't be, a white phosphorous hand grenade. Pierre quickly jumped into the helicopter even as Matt, realizing that Pedro was going to throw the grenade at the beast, started to move the helicopter to the nearest open gate.  
  
"Eat this you jacked up bitch!" Pedro shouted as he hurled the grenade at the Alpha as soon as he made sure that Matt and Pierre had already left.  
  
The grenade hit the thing squarely in the chest and began to burn a brilliant white leaving a charred hole clean through its body. Pedro had never been happier as he drifted off into the black abyss where Emma Magnus, Jon Noto, and Tom Burgess were waiting for him.  
  
"Thank you for working at Umbrella Corporation and have a nice day," the feminine voice said as explosions began to go off in the once elegant Umbrella facility. 


	13. Epilogue

Epilogue  
  
As the helicopter hummed out of the docking bay, Pierre glanced back at his once home burning in the early sunlight. They had managed to get out, Matt and him, but others had died in order for them to. Pedro had given his life in order to make sure that the Alpha hadn't prevented their escape, and for that Pierre respected him even in death. Matt was taking the helicopter to some SOC base of his. Who knew where they would end up with Matt driving though.  
  
"Pierre, you know when I told you that I didn't find anything in that room with my motto on it," Matt said from beside him breaking the silence that had been between them since they left the facility.  
  
"Yeah," Pierre said faintly remembering.  
  
"I lied, my fiancé was in there, and Umbrella had turned her into one of those things. That's why I thought you were crazy when you accused Lain of being the Alpha. I thought Melissa had been it," Matt said softly as his eyes involuntarily began to water.  
  
"You weren't responsible for their deaths Matt, Umbrella was," Pierre said somehow feeling the need to comfort him.  
  
Matt quickly cleared his eyes as he began the decent onto the small patch of farm land that hid the SOC headquarters. The sun shone brightly over the open fields as dust scurried away from the helicopter as it touched down. The grass felt good under their feet and the sun felt good on their backs as they stepped out into the sunlight for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime.  
  
"Pierre," Matt shouted as Pierre started walking towards the old dirt road that led into town.  
  
"Yeah," Pierre called back. His light blonde hair being ruffled by the wind.  
  
"We could use a good leader like you in the SOC," Matt said wanting to give Pierre more than that but not having anything to offer.  
  
"I am afraid I am going to have to decline your offer even though it is generous. I think I have done enough good to last for a lifetime," Pierre said with one of his rare chuckles.  
  
"What will you do then?" Matt shouted as the sun went behind a cloud shadowing the humble farm.  
  
"I don't know, maybe I'll be a kindergarten teacher," Pierre called back with a huge grin as the sun came back out.  
  
"If I ever have kids I'll make sure you're their teacher," Matt said playing along with the joke.  
  
Pierre pulled his feet together tightly and snapped off a salute to the man. Matt returned the salute and for a moment it was something more than a simple salute. It was two men telling each other that they respected one another.  
  
Pierre wanted to do something more for him, but had nothing to offer him. Matt had been a good leader, willing to risk his life for his teammates. If one man could bring Umbrella down it would be Matthew Ryan, Pierre thought as he started his long walk to along the dirt road.  
  
"It's going to be another beautiful day, why the hell can't it rain for once," Pierre mumbled as he left not only a teammate but a friend behind.  
  
Author's note: Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I had so much fun with this thing that I have decided to do another interfic. Different plot and what not of course, but still the same writer if that helps any. Let me just think all the people who entered characters. They were all great and made the story what it was. And all the reviewers who kept me going with it. Thank you all and please check out "Falling S.T.A.R.S" by Matt which is the prequel to this story for Matthew Ryan and "The Silenced Gun" by me for Pierre Dupree's prequel to this story. Thank you all again and come enter your character for my next interfic. 


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